January 20, 2009 by Das.

Well, it’s official, I officially work on Obama St. in SF.

I read a blog post about a prank pulled here in the Financial District in San Francisco. Apparently some webby pranksters pulled an instant classic by swapping out several Bush Street signs into Obama Street.

Representing our per capita regional dominance of photoshop, some coy ideators created a mask for the metal signage. Too bad it wasn’t the workings of good ole’ Adobo Photoshop creative studio. At least four blocks of signs had been changed in the heart of the city’s Financial District.

My office building is immediately to the left of the first frame/still of the video. Chalk drawings on the ground pointing up to get commuters and locals to notice the “change.” It’s not clear how serious a crime this is or if police will bother to prosecute. I’m sure JM the editor would pay no mind. In fact, we should check, it might have been his idea.

There is a rally that is expected to be held at Bush Street and Presidio later today –– where Bush Street officially stops with a little “end” sign on the street corner. I’ll try to get out and get some pictures for you guys.

GC
assistant to the editor’s assistant

Posted in Decision 2008, President | Print | 2 Comments »

January 3, 2009 by Das.

Disclaimer: Feel free to completely disregard this blog post if you are anti-[american]football. 49ers fans go ahead and sip that ginger ale and/or Pepto Bismol.

Today, I got my first rss feed text update on the new device and it featured the story about 49ers new head coach, Mike Singletary, and how he fired Offensive Coordinator, Mike Martz. Now according to everyone i’ve talked to or spoken about this headline, as well as everyone i’ve read, or listened to, I am the only one who feels like this is a grave mistake. I was at the final game vs. the Washington Redskins, and I must say that the win we earned left me with a really good taste in my mouth. The cherry on top being the extension of Coach Singletary’s contract as Head Coach. But for the sake of getting it off my chest, I need to express the reasons I think we are now further away from making the playoffs in the near future, and why losing Martz will have an adverse affect.

1) Losing Martz means we will have to hire a 5th offensive coordinator in as many years.

2) *Passing Offense: 2008 - 13rd (Martz), 2007 - 32nd, 2006 - 25th (Turner), 2005 - 32nd. We were finally able to sustain long drives, instead of going 3 and out. He was under contract for 2 yrs. A 2nd year under Martz’ system would have benefited every quarterback, Total Offensive Rank, and every player on the offense.

3) Coach Singletary’s explanation was that the team wanted to head in a different direction offensively. Which direction is that? Because we went from 32nd to 13th in passing, and 32nd to 23rd in Total Offense. Are we aiming to go from 13th back to 32nd? Because that’s what happened to the last teams Martz coached. For ex. Rams went from Rank#2,3,5,4,6 under Martz, to 24th without. Detroit Lions went from 23rd & 26th w/out Martz, to 7th & 9th w/ Martz, then back to 24th w/out Martz.

4) The only offensive coordinator who has the potential to even hang with Martz is Al Saunders. He’s the only option I believe in, but I don’t think he’ll even be interviewed for the job. Holmgren is not gonna take an assistant coach job after previously holding a GM & Head Coach position. If seducing Mike Shanahan by singing this Player tune, then i’d grow a mullet and grab a mic in a second. However, it’s just not gonna happen. He is an elite head coach.

5) Shaun Hill is not the answer. I said this last year, but believing Shaun is the long-term answer, or has the potential to be an elite QB, and savior of the franchise, you’ve truly lost your mind. If you seriously think about it, who is better, Mark Grieb or Shaun Hill? Hill’s wins came against imploding opponents who were missing several key weapons. Here are two videos for your comparative enjoyment:

Mark Grieb - QB San Jose Sabercats vs. Shaun Hill - QB SF 49ers

The sad thing here is that you can fit all of Shaun Hill’s highlights by splitting half the 2:00 video with Alex Smith highlights. I will admit, I am a tad bitter for the reason that I started Shaun Hill in two fantasy football championship games this year. (Of course, I lost BOTH of them. He was playing the Rams for pete’s sake, and I had Favre as my other QB. My #1 QB got hurt.)

I seriously hope they have a plan that is well thought out. We demand success. After all, Al Davis doesn’t make our decisions. We aren’t the weak @ss Raiders.

2009 Wishes:
Wash our hands of Vernon Davis for Adrian Wilson from the Cardinals and/or Anquan Boldin?
Pick Michael Johnson - 6′7″ Georgia Tech DE (imagine a faster muscular Mario Williams)
Pick Taylor Mays - USC FS (imagine a bigger Ronnie Lott w/ 4.3 40yd dash speed, or imagine Ed Reed with size) in next April’s draft

2010 Wishes:
WR Julio Jones (He will be a top-3 draft selection, and we will likely have a top-3 pick.)
WR Malcom Williams

-Frantic 49er

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